I recognize dementia by walking

Researchers from the University of Newcastle have demonstrated unique gait features in patients with Alzheimer's disease and dementia with Levi's corpuscles, which carry information about the differences between these two diseases.

So, with dementia with Levi's corpuscles, people often change the duration and length of the step, doing it asymmetrically, unlike people suffering from Alzheimer's disease.

Gait reflects the state of thinking, memory and other brain functions, changing with the development of dementia.

According to the authors, the gait pattern can be used as a clinical biomarker for various types of disease. Accurate determination of the type of dementia is important for clinicians and researchers, as it allows prescribing the treatment most appropriate for the condition of patients.

According to the results of this study, the assessment of gait characteristics can be a useful diagnostic tool for dementia.

Currently, differential diagnosis between Alzheimer's disease and dementia with Lewy bodies is carried out by searching for various symptoms and, if necessary, brain imaging.

The study analyzed the gait of 110 people, including 29 healthy elderly people, 36 people with Alzheimer's disease and 45 dementia patients with Levi's corpuscles.

The participants passed a simple test to determine the type of gait. They were asked to move at a normal speed along a special track with thousands of sensors inside that recorded information about the steps.

Researchers found that in dementia with Lewy bodies, people had a unique walking pattern: they changed the time it took to take a step, then the length of their steps. The change in walking rhythm and stride length occurred more often than in participants with Alzheimer's disease, whose gait rarely changed.

Irregular steps lead to an increased risk of dementia patients falling with Levi's corpuscles.

Scientists have shown that the analysis of the variability of step length and the asymmetry of step speed makes it possible to accurately identify 60% of all types of dementia.

Further work will be aimed at studying the effect of gait characteristics on existing diagnostic procedures and the possibility of using them as a screening method.

Future research at the University of Newcastle is planned to devote to the development of a system of small sensors that can be worn on the body in everyday life to assess the quality of gait – a sign of health and well-being.

Article R. Mc Ardle et al. Do Alzheimer's and Lewy body disease have discrete pathological signatures of gait published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Association.

Aminat Adzhieva, portal "Eternal Youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru based on EurekAlert: For the first time walking patterns identify specific types of dementia.